Magnetic game apparatus



March 30, 1 5 E. ABRAHAMSON MAGNETIC GAME APPARATUS Original Filed Jan.2, 1947 INVENTOR EDMUND ABRAHAMSON MW,

PATENT AGENT Patented Mar. 30, 1954;

MAGNETIC GAME APPARATUS Edmund Abrahamson, Baldwin, N.' Y;

Original application January. 2, 1947, Serial No. 719,661, new PatentNo.2,619,349, dated November 25, 1952. Divided and November 6, 1952, SerialNo.

14 Claims. 1

a division of my copending 19,661, filed January 2, 1947, 2,619,349,issued November 25, 1952, and relates to improvements in magneticapparatus of the type employable in the construction and operation ofgames, amusement, educational and display devices, or the like, theprimary object of the invention being to provide devices involvingmagnetizable elements which become endowed with or produce visible oraudible activity, upon the establishment, either momentary or prolonged,of a magnetic circuit between such elements and magnet means located ina supporting surface over which the devices are moved, such as a gameboard or other platform or base. In contrast to the apparatus accordingto my afore-mentioned copending application, employing electromagnets asmagnetizing means, permanent magnets are used as magnetizing means inthe device according to the present invention.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a novelarrangement of magnetically cooperating g'ameboard and game pieces, inwhich the gameboard is provided with iron' pieces in either fixed orchangeable locations, and/or with changeable game charts or cardsoverlying and concealing these iron pieces and adapted to be changed toprevent the players memorizing the locations of the iron pieces andbeing guided thereby in subsequently moving the game pieces over thegameboard.

Another important object of this invention is to provide'game pieces, orexhibitors of the character indicated above which are self-energizing,that is, which contain batteries for the energization of theirvisible-and/or audible components, such as lamps, buzzers, and the like;and whose magnetizable elements control switches for closing and/oropening the circuits between the batteries and said components.

Other important. objects and advantageous features of this inventionwill be apparent from the following description and the drawing appendedthereto, wherein merely for purposes of illustration, specific butnon-limiting embodiments of this invention are set forth.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section through This application isapplication, Ser. No. 7 now U. S. Patent No.

a game piece, according to the present invention, r

and through the inventive gameboard with which this game piece isassociated, the game piecehaving a permanent magnet and the gaineboardbe ing equipped with concealed soft iron pieces for actuation of thegame piece;

this application 319,015

Fig. 2'is a perspective illustration of a modified form of the gameboardassociated with the game piece of'Fig. 1, part of the gameboard beingshown in transverse vertical section;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, on an.

enlarged scale, taken through a magnetically operated switch, similar tothat employed in the game piece of Figure 1, adapted to be used inconnectionwith the gameboard shown in Figure 4;

Fig. 4 is a top perspective view of a questionand-answer type ofgameboard in accordance with the present invention, in the operation ofwhich the magnetically operated switch of Figure 3 is selectively movedover the surface of the gameboard, containing concealed soft iron piecesfor actuating the'switch.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and first to Fig. 1, thereof,numeral It generally designates a platform, base or gameboard ofsuitable material, which may be provided with a plurality of pieces ordiscs I l of soft iron which are concealed in said platform, base orgameboard.

The game piece or exhibitor A placed on the gameboard l 9 and adapted tobe actuated by registry with any of the afore-mentioned softiron piecesI 5 comprises an insulating casing or housing including a lower part l2,an upper part l3, a lamp support block I4 holding a bulb l5 and atransparent dome l'li, an upper spring contact l1 and its connectionl8'with a bulb socket l9, and its rod 20 presenting'a contact point atits lower end. Also, an upper terminal 2| of a battery 22 engages a bulbcontact-23. Other than this, the battery case engages a conductor strip24, on the upper side of a partition 25 and is connected at 25 to aconductive strip 29 on the underside of said partition.

The contact point 26 is engaged by a spring finger 29 anchored incontact with a contact bracket 33 anchored in the bottom wall 3| of thelower casing part l2 near the contact point 28 at the opposite side ofsaid lower part from a ver-. tically elongated'post or spacer 32, to theupper end of which is fastened one end of a generally horizontal springarmature 33 having on its free end a depending contact point 34 forengagement with the bracket A spiral spring connector 35 connects theconductive strip 21 with the armature 33. The armature 33 and its postor spacer 32 are preferably of soft iron so as to eX- hibit a practicalminimum of residual magnetism.

Positioned beneath and closeto the underside of the free endofthearmature 33 is a vertical bar permanent magnet core 36, which like thepost or spacer 32, extends through to substantially fiush with theunderside of the lower casing part 12. The permanent magnet 36 isarranged, for example, with one (north) pole up and its other (south)pole down. When the device is registered with one of the soft ironpieces or discs H in the game board or other platform 10, the gap in themagnetic circuit between the lower ends of the soft iron post 32 and thepermanent magnet 36 will be practically closed. This results in anincrease of the magnetic field strength acting on the armature 33 whichwill be attracted by the magnet 36, i. e., said armature swingsdownwardly and closes the battery lamp bulb circuit and lights the lampbulb l5.

Instead of the soft iron pieces l 1, small permanent magnets may beprovided in the gameboard or other platform. When the game piece orexhibitor A is registered with one of these permanent magnet pieces, thearmature 33 will be attracted by the magnet 36, only if the lower poleof the permanent magnet 36 in the game piece or exhibitor registers witha pole of opposite polarity of said permanent magnet piece in thegameboard or other platform, because in other positions of the gamepiece or exhibitor A with respect to said permanent magnet piece in thegameboard, the magnetic field acting on the armature 33 is decreased orchanged in direction so that said armature will be repelled rather thanattracted by the permanent magnet 36. In other words, the game piece orexhibitor A has to be placed on each of th permanent magnets in thegameboard or other platform in one definite position to actuate theswitch closing the circuit of the lamp bulb l5, so that, in case of agame, the chances are made additionally dependent upon the relativepositions of the game piece and the significant areas. The exhibitor Amay also be used as indicator means to indicate the direction ofmagnetic field lines or the polarity of a mag netic field pole.

If permanent magnets are provided in the gameboard, the permanent magnet36 in the game piece A may be replaced by a soft iron core.

The game board in Figure 1 comprises three layers of wood, cardboard,plastic or other suitable material, i. e., two outer layers 46 and 4|,and an intermediate layer 43, the latter being provided with a pluralityof apertures into which the soft iron or permanent magnet pieces II areinserted. The three layers are glued together or combined to an integralstructure in any other manner. The outer surfaces of the two outerlayers may be printed with circles or other designs to indicate theplayin positions of the game pieces, so that both sides of the structurecan be used as game surface. a

A modification of the gameboard structure shown in Figure l isillustrated in Figure 2. The two outer layers t6 and ii in Figure 2 arethe same as in Figure 1, while the intermediate layer 44 consists of aniron or steel sheet in which a large number of perforations or cut-outs653 of preferably circular shape is provided. The three layers arecombined to a unitary structure in the same manner as in the gameboardin Fig. l. The gameboard of Figure 2 has active or significant areas allover the surface, except at places where the perforations or cut-outsare provided in the intermediate sheet.

In Figures 3 and 4 is shown a question-andanswer game piece adaptation Bof the invention involving a suitable rearrangement of the components ofform A in relation to a gameboard 46, having soft iron discs or plates41 inserted in the surface thereof, in positions corresponding tocorrect answers to questions appearing on the replaceable chart or card38. This rearrangement includes provision of a lamp bulb 69 in aposition at the head or other desirable location of the gameboard 46,the installation of a battery 56 within the gameboard 46, with theremainder of the game piece A changed to mount the permanent magnet core36, the soft iron post 32, the soft iron armature 33, the contact point34 and the bracket 36 in an insulated casing or housing consisting of adisc 5| on which is threaded a tubular upper part 52, whose upper end isclosed by a cap 53 having a neck 54 through which extends a flexibleconduit 55, containing the necessary leads 56 and 51 to the armature 33and bracket 30, and connected to the battery 50 and the lamp bulb 4d.The game piece B being freely movable by a player over the surface ofthe card 68 on the question-and-answer board 46, will, if registeredwith one of the soft iron discs or plates 4'! underlying a correctanswer area, produce lighting of the lamp bulb d9 thereby visuallyindicating the correctnes of the players response to a given question.The questions appearing on the replaceable chart or card 48 may call foranswering yes or no. Consequently two answer areas, marked yes and no,respectively, would have to be provided for each question printed onsaid chart or card 48 adjacent said areas, for example, therebetween;If, for example, the question between one yes and one no areas reads DidAlexander Graham Bell invent the telephone? the correct answer is yes,and therefore the player is expected to place the game piece B on theadjacent yes area to answer this question correctly. In this case, oneof the soft iron discs or plates is concealed under the said yes areaand consequently the game piece B becomes energized and the lamp bulb 46lights up to indicate the correctness of the answer. If the playershould answer the question incorrectly and place the same piece B on theno area having no soft iron disc or plate in the present case, noenergization of the game piece B takes place and the lamp 49 does notlight up, indicating that the answer was incorrect.

In order to prevent the players from memorizing the positions of theiron pieces with reference to the different significant areas of anygame card or chart 48 and to provide games of varied nature andprocedure, a plurality-of interchangeable cards or charts may beprovided, which can be exchanged at will upon the gameboard 46 oraltered in relative position thereon by removably placing them onprojecting pins 6| mounted on the corners of the gameboard 46 andadapted to enter in correspondingly located holes in said cards orcharts. For the same purpose the soft iron ieces 4'! may be changed inposition by placing them in different cavities provided in the gameboard46 (see Fig. 3).

As in the gameboard I6 of Figure l, permanent ma -nets may be providedin the gameboard 46 of Figures 3 and 4 rather than soft ircn pieces 4'1.In this case, the permanent magnet 36, in the game piece B (Fig. 3) maybe replaced by a soft iron core.

It will be understood that the arrangement of Fi ures 1 and. 2 could.also be devised to permit questicmaninswer operation of the yes and notype and that forms of gameboards or platforms and/or game pieces orexhibitors other than those disclosedherein. for example, game pieces orexhibitors with audible signals, such as buzzers or bells replacing thelight bulbs in the battery circuits, could be employed in eitherarrangement, without departure from the present invention.

I claim:

1. Magnetically operated game apparatus comprising a gameboard includinga playing surface having significant areas and non-significant areas,some of which significant areas have magnetic means positioned therein,and at least one game piece selectively movable over said surface withreference to said areas, said game piece comprising a casing,magnetizable means in said casing, an electric contact device in saidcasing, operatively associated with said magnetizable means, an electriccircuit connected to a source of electric current, said electric circuitincluding an electric signal element and said electric contact device,said magnetizable means being constructed and arranged to be actuated byany of said magnetic means to act on said electric contact device andthereby operate said electric signal via said electric circuit, whensaid game piece is moved on said gameboard to a position of substantialregistry with a significant area having such magnetic means.

2. Magnetically operated game apparatus ac cording to claim 1, wherein apermanent magnet is mounted in said game piece casing to act on saidmagnetizable means when said game iece is moved on said gameboard to aposition of substantial registry with any of said significant areashaving said magnetic means.

3. Magnetically operated game apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid magnetic means positioned in said gameboard at said significantareas are pieces of soft iron.

4. Magnetically operated game apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid magnetic means positioned in said gameboard at said significantareas are permanent magnets.

5. Magnetically operated game apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid magnetic means at said non-significant areas is a piece of softiron extending substantially over the whole playing surface and beingformed with cut-outs at said significant areas.

6. Magnetically operated game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein achart indiscriminately indicating the position of said significant andnon-significant areas is placed on said gameboard and wherein means aremounted on said gameboard to exchangeably hold said chart on saidgameboard.

7. Magnetically operated game apparatus according to claim 6, whereinsaid means to exchangeably hold said chart on said gameboard are pinsmounted on said gameboard close to its edge, said chart being formedwith holes adapted to be engaged by said pins.

8. Magnetically operated game apparatus comprising a gameboard includinga playing surface having significant areas and non-significant areas,some of which significant areas have magnetic means positioned therein,and at least one game piece selectively movable over said surface withreference to said areas, said game piece comprising a casing, a signalelement and magnetizable means in said casing for operating said signalelement, said mag'netizable means being constructed and arranged to beactuated by any of said magnetic means when said gamepiece is moved onthe gameboard to-a position'of' sub -l stantial registry with asignificant area having such magnetic means, said signal elementcomprising an electric alarm means, said magnetizable means comprising anormally open magnetically operable switch in said casing arranged to beclosed by the magnetic flux of any of said magnetic means whenregistered therewith, and a circuit in said casing including a battery,said alarm means, and said switch for energizing saidv alarm means, assaid switch is closed by registration of said game piece with one ofsaid significant areas of said playing surface.

9. Magnetically operated game apparatus comprising a gameboard includinga playing surface hav'ng significant areas and non-significant areas,some of which significant areas have magnetic means positioned therein,and at least one game piece selectively movable over said sur-.-

face with reference to said areas, said gamement comprising an electriclamp bulb, said magnetizable means comprising a normally openmagnetically operable switch in said casing arranged to be closed by themagnetic fiux of any of said magnetic means when registered'therewith,and a circuit in said casing including a.

battery, said lamp bulb, and. said switch. for lighting said lamp bulb,as said switch is closed by registration of said game piece with oneof;

said significant areas of said playing surface.

10. Magnetically operated game apparatuscomprising a gameboard includinga playing surface having significant areas and non-significant areas,some of which significant areas have magnetic means positioned therein,and at least one game piece selectively movable over said surface withreference to said areas, said game piece comprising a casing, a signalelement comprising an electric alarm means secured to said game board,magnetizable means in said casing for operating said signal element,said magnetizable means being constructed and arranged to be actuated byany of said magnetic means when said game piece is moved on thegameboard to a position of substantial registry with a significant areahaving such magnetic means, said magnetizable' means comprising anormally open magnetically operable switch in said casing arranged to beclosed by the magnetic fiux of any of said magnetic means whenregistered therewith, and an electric circuit including said switch,said alarm means, and a source of electric current for energizing saidelectric alarm means, when said switch is closed as said game piece isregistered with one of said significant areas on the playing surface ofthe gameboard.

11. Magnetically operated game apparatus according to claim 10, whereinsaid source of electric current is a battery built into said gameboard.

12. Magnetically operated game apparatus comprising a gameboardincluding a playing surface having significant areas and non-significantareas, some of which significant areas have magnetic means positionedtherein, and at least one game piece selectively movable over saidsurface with reference to said areas, said game piece comprising acasing, a signal element secured to said gameboard, magnetizable meansin said casing for operating said signal element, said magnetizablemeans being constructed and arranged to be actuated by any of saidmagnetic means when said game piece is moved in the gameboard to aposition of substantial registry with a significant area having suchmagnetic means, said signal element comprising an electric lamp bulbmounted on said gameboard, said magnetizable means comprising a normallyopen magnetically operable switch in said casing arranged to be closedbyithe magnetic flux of any of said magnetic means when registeredtherewith, and an electric circuit including said switch, said bulb, anda source of electric currents for lighting said lamp bulb when saidswitch is closed as said game piece is registered with one of saidsignificant areas on the playing surface of the gameboard.

' 13. An exhibitor comprising a non-magnetic casing having amagnetizable core in its bottom, an armature arranged opposite said coreand mounted by one end in said casing with its opposite end free, saidarmature being adapted to be drawn toward said core when said core ismagnetized by being placed within the flux of a magnet over which saidexhibitor may be placed, signal means in said casing and operating meansactuated by said armature and connected to said signal means, saidsignal means comprising an electrical alarm device, an energizingcircuit for said alarm device including a battery and a switch having apair of normally separated cpposed switch points, and said operatingmeans comprising a portion in said armature carrying one of said switchpoints, the other of said switch points being stationarily mounted insaid casing, said armature being arranged to move said one switch pointinto engagement with said other stationary switch point so as to closesaid energizing circuit and operate said alarm device, when said core ismagnetized.

14. An exhibitor comprising a non-magnetic casing having a permanentmagnet mounted in the bottom of said casing, an armature arrangedopposite said magnet and mounted by ,one end in said casing with itsopposite end free, a magnetic circuit including said permanent magnetand said armature, a small air gap in said magnetic circuit, saidarmature being adapted to be drawn toward said permanent magnet whensaid exhibitor is placed near a magnetic means and adapted tosubstantially close said gap in said magnetic circuit, signal means insaid casing and operating means actuated by said armature and connectedto said signal means, said alarm device means comprising an electricalsignal, an energizing circuit for said signal including a battery andswitches having a pair of normally separated, opposed switch points, andsaid operating means comprising a portion in said armature carrying oneof said switch points, the other of said switch points beingstationarily mounted in said casing, said armature being arranged tomove said one switch point into engagement with said other stationaryswitch point so as to close said energizing circuit and operate saidalarm device, when said armature is drawn toward said permanent magnet.

EDMUND ABRAHAMSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,438,958 Abrahamson Apr. 6, 1948. 2,619,349 Abrahamson Nov.25, 1952

